"Distinctions were drawn between the preconceptions and types of evidence sought by the two schools of thought. The first constructs pattern models of institutional norms embedded in a specific cultural context. Within this model, the behavi or of individuals is largely a result of the institutional milieu into which they are born. Hence, the detailed nature or structure of that institutional-cultural environment is of paramount theoretical and empirical importance...The noeclassical school constructs deductive models based on postulates which generate logical predictions about individual consumers and firms. Within this model, the optimization of individual choices is used to predict quantities supplied and demanded. Hence, the institutio nal-cultural environment is much less significant. Instead, statistical price and quantity data with which to compare predictions become of paramount importance. It should be apparent why the two schools of thought, or the two paradigms, are so differen t. Their preconceptions and empirical searches take the practitioner in very different directions."

Works by William Dugger:

• Methodological differences between institutional and neoclassical economics, The Philosophy of Economics: An Anthology
  
• Institutional and Neoclassical Economics Compared, Social Science Quarterly